Never EVER let your mistakes bring you down. They say experience is the best teacher and we can learn from our mistakes. Remember that there is always a second chance – another chance to improve, to do better, and to succeed.

Just look at this soccer player from Maldives, Ashad Ali Adubarey. He had this chance to score a goal for his team with a penalty kick – a one on one match between him and the goal keeper. While running towards the ball, he slipped and lost his momentum. But that did not stop him. He quickly got up and continued a few more steps toward the ball. He proceeded to kick, and scored a goal to beat Afghanistan. Some reporters say that he intentionally feigned the fall, but you could watch the video for yourself to see for yourself if it was a total wipe out or a fake.

The point is that, even after such a bad fall, we can always get up and try harder.

Michael Jordan didn’t start off as a champion – he and his team went through lots of challengesand defeatbefore they claimed back-to-back championships. One of the things that we can truly admire about him is how he continually strived to improve himself. He kept pushing himself to the limits, until the Chicago Bulls win one game after another.

For us, we wouldn’t really know what we are capable of until we push our bodies to the limit. Improvements won’t come easy and there will be lots of sweat and soreness, but after a certain point in time, we’ll be sure that everything will eventually pay off.

We wouldn’t know how fast we can run, how high we can jump, how deep we can swim, or how long we can perform unless we train to push ourselves to the limit.

Upon reaching that point, we’ll realize how much we are able to do not just for ourselves, but for our family and community.

Larry Bird, another Basketball great, also said:

“Push yourself again and again. Don’t give an inch until the final buzzer sounds.”

No matter how hard the challenges you face may be, remember that the game won’t be over until it’s over.